Amusing Sandro, Bemusing Media & Imminent Arrivals

A novel approach from Sandro Rosell to the Cesc saga. Having seen his quarry deny the previous day that he will make a transfer request, the Barcelona President heaped scorn on the Arsenal captain and looked to damage Fábregas’ ego. It is harsh and unnecessary for Rosell to have told Cesc he was worthless and a comment unlikely to find much favour with the player. Which is to Arsenal’s benefit so if Señor Bean could keep it up…

Even arguing that Cesc is “worth less” does not endear Rosell. Game playing is one thing; to deny any knowledge of transfers just makes himself look foolish. The words indicate two things. Firstly, Barcelona are not coming back very readily for Cesc this summer. Fast forward twelve months, that may be a different story but now they do not have the money unless they fail to land one of their other targets.

Secondly, Rosell has backed himself into a corner. Save for improving the depth in their squad, Cesc is not a high priority for them. This is the reason for the ease in backing off. Were he a player in a key position that would be a different story.

But it is all game playing. At the end of the day, signing Cesc for more than the value he quoted will be paying a fair price for a quality player. Previous comments will be negotiating positions. It will though, I suspect, lead to a period of quiet on this front whilst the Catalans work behind the scenes to see if a deal can really be completed.

Shaun Custis in this morning’s Sun argues that Wenger should sell Cesc in order to ensure Arsenal’s ‘rebirth‘. On first reading it is a plaintive cry from a journalist, begging a manager to create a massive story for them. His argument that Cesc has become less effective over recent seasons really do not bear scrutiny. At this point I would like to say that he produces a stunning piece of analysis which indicates a positive future for the club through wise investment and giving us an insight into how Wenger could sign certain players to produce a tactical innovation that would seal League and European glory.

That’s what I would like to say. But if I did, I would be lying. The piece in question is nothing more than an exercise in vituperative sniping. It was a way of filling column inches that criticises Wenger for being weak in holding on to him whilst Cesc is a simpering, whining little boy. Custis? Well, if he had an original thought, it would live a bleak and miserable existence before dying a lonely death.

The rumour mill went into overdrive yesterday with Gervinho and / or Christopher Samba tipped to be announced as a new signing today. Speculation was rife that terms with the former are agreed but a fee is not whilst the reverse is true with Samba.

I love the way that the Heil has a transfer fee of £10.5m but The Mirror, they have to indulge in one-upmanship, quoting a fee of £10.6m.

Why today? Because it is Friday and supposedly Arsenal like to announce new signings on a Friday. I do not recall this being prevalent before but there you go. Indeed you could argue that with the media focussing on the fixtures when they are announced at 9am this morning, nothing will be confirmed today, leaving the good news for next week instead.

Elsewhere, German wunderkind Samed Yesil is the latest to be linked with the club. Apparently Arsenal watched him at the recent European Under 17 Championships. Nicklas Bendtner has apparently been the subject of a bid from Sporting Lisbon where he would form a frontline attack with the wonderfully named Ricky van Wolfswinkel. His Mr20% was too busy trying to big up a move to Borussia Dortmund whilst preparing the family barbecue to find out how much it was for. To save him finding out, the answer is nothing because Sporting deny making a bid.

According to ESPN who lifted it from another site, Shakhtar rejected Arsenal’s bid of money plus Denilson for Douglas Costa. Could it be that the bid was actually for Willian and a secretary at Shakhtar phoned the wrong agent to relay the news? Or could it all be made up? Adel Taarabt seems to think that leaving Tottenham to become QPRs top scorer means he can demand first team football at Arsenal or Chelsea. He then woke up and realised he had been talking in his sleep or out of his arsenal. I cannot decide which.

Finally, Sir Trevor Brooking believes that there is no flair in the England Under-21s performances without Jack Wilshere. Had he observed it was No Fun, I’m sure Stuart Pearce would have been pogoing down the aisle in agreement.

’til Tomorrow.